Just a Girl and Her Dome
by RevolvingKitten
Summary: Lillian Power, a sarcastic fourteen year old girl has just moved to Perdido Beach in California with her father. Watch as she tags along with Sam Temple, Little Pete, Edilio Escobar and Astrid Ellison as they witness the collapse of the world as they had known it. Rated T for swear words, violence and sex references, mainly in joke form. OC, I'm not sure if romance will appear.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

**A/N **This isn't exactly my story. My friend NOM wrote it but she is too much of a lazy son of a bitch to make her own account. Enjoy! Reviews are welcome and constructive criticism is appreciated.

Lillian Power wasn't exactly observant but nine out of ten times when the person you're talking to just suddenly vanishes into thin air you're _going_ to notice. She stood, utterly bemused at the empty space her father had been in seconds ago talking about how she would find new friends, that moving wasn't so bad.

"Uh, Dad?" Lillian reached out into the empty space and thrust her hand out, perhaps hoping her father had turned invisible and she wasn't going insane. Well, more than she already was but when her fingers closed on nothing she drew back suddenly and pressed herself against the wall. Possibilities entered her mind with panic. Serial killers, mutants or invisible fairy dust. Her throat tightened and she tensed the muscles in her stomach. Lillian stayed frozen to the spot she was in for a long ten seconds until she was utterly sure that no aliens or deranged fairies were going to beam her to a spaceship or eat her flesh. She relaxed against the wall and called for her father. "Dad!" There was only her panicked heartbeat and her sharp breathing that filled her ears. "Daddio!" Lillian shouted as she walked down the cramped hall and into the front garden "_BRENDAN!" _Lillian roared into her cupped hand and when no one replied she got really pissed.

She turned to face the house and ran a hand through her hair. Lillian's red hair curled past her shoulders in messy curls that often stuck out at odd angles. She didn't look anything like her father but she had her mother's wild, untameable hair. Lillian often had the urge to hack the hair off with a scissors sometimes but the memory of her mother and the similarity stopped her from doing this.

She didn't have a stupid sap story; she didn't cut herself and she wasn't a god dammed mute either. Deaths never really affected her in a way that they should affect the average Jo. Her mother died giving birth to her and her father raised her. Simple, shit happens. Lillian never really got upset over this as she never knew her mother but her dad had often described her as "Shy, sweet and was a little bit of a push-over." That summed Lillian up nicely apart from everything. She wasn't shy or sweet and she definitely wasn't a push-over, no thank you madam. Lillian didn't exactly have an issue in telling people that her mother was dead. Her father on the other hand would get teary and wail to Lillian that she was the image of her mother while she would stand awkwardly in the sidelines, offering him a Kleenex.

The town was too quite. It felt as if a great calm had settled upon Perdido Beach. No cars were moving and in the distance she could hear the wail of three or four car alarms and a ringing in her ears.

Lillian ran back inside, slipping and sliding down the hall, tripped into the kitchen and wrenched open the kitchen drawer. As the thought "Alien invasion" crossed her mind she became more paranoid than healthy. She pulled out a knife that would be suited very well for stabbing and slipped into her hoodie pockets. She walked hesitantly into the sitting room and turned on the television but only static crossed the screen. Elise frowned and picked up the phone to call... Someone, perhaps the guards or an ambulance to ensure that she wasn't insane but all she could hear was the dial tone. She glared at the phone and flung it back in the cradle.

She ran upstairs to her room and grabbed her new school bag. Dumping all of the new books on the ground she muttered "Great time to move town." and packed some clothes, a small first aid kit that wouldn't do jack-shit and a bottle of water and a few cereal bars. Clutching the sharp kitchen knife in her deep pants pockets she flung open the door. Lillian marched down the street with her hand shaking in her pocket when she spotted the smoke.

_Oh shit._

Dark, ugly clouds were rising from a tall building. She could see tongues of fire licking at the walls and before the thought could penetrate her kind, Lillian was running. She sprinted down San Pablo Avenue until the building came into view.

It was an apartment block. It was heavily on fire and smoke was rising in death clouds that choked Lillian even from that distance. She could see a good looking boy who looked her and had that "beach boy" look of blonde highlights and pretty blue eyes. He was shouting something but all Lillian could hear was "_We are the fire department!" _and that was when a large explosion came from the house. Her vision was blinded for a few seconds as her eyes were stinging, filled with tears from the smoke.

Children were gathered around the apartment with expressions of wonder and fear. Lillian stared at a pretty blonde girl tying a cloth around beach boy's face. The way her hand lingered at his cheek Lillian knew that there was something special between them. The pretty boy the turned around and ran into the building. It was silent for a few minutes apart from the whoosh of fire until the fire truck was driven shakily down the road. A Mexican looking boy jumped out of the truck along with another and then shouted at others to help him. They dragged the gear down the road and set up the ladder up the wall. Lillian could see a small body being dragged out of the building and carried down the ladder. The Mexican looking boy stared hopelessly at the girl."Does anyone here now first aid?" he shouted over the crackling of the fire. Lillian looked at the shaking of heads until she stepped forward."I do."

* * *

Edilio was panicking as he stared down at the little girls face. She was no longer breathing and she looked ashen, pale under the chalky dust that covered her face. Half of her hair was burned off and her clothes hung in tatters. He carried her along the path and laid her gently on the ground. His eyes searched the crowd. "Does anyone here know first aid?" Edilio called, his voice cracking over the smoke and the hopelessness of the situation but then a girl stepped forward.

She looked like one of those Celtic female warriors with flaming red hair and dark green eyes. She was beautiful in her own alien way but what completed the warrior image was a thin silver scar that started near her right eyebrow and curved down her face to her jawbone. Her hair was a wild mess of curls that flopped in her eye when she bent down to examine the girl. Edilio crouched down to see if the girl was alright.

"Go Mexican boy, save the day." The red-head shouted over the crackling of the fire. Edilio nodded and turned back to the fire. He saw Sam being dragged down the ladder and over to where Elise was.

* * *

Sam awoke. His cheek stung from where Astrid had slapped him.

"Sorry, I had to wake you up." She explained. Sam didn't care. He searched for the little girl when his eyes caught a red headed girl over the five year old with a hopeless expression. He saw her hold her head in her hands and swear extravagantly.

Sam stood up, a little wobbly after throwing up and inhaling a house worth of smoke and staggered over to the girl. When his shadow fell over her she looked up. He took in her appearance quickly and asked the question he was dreading. "Is... Is she OK?"

"Does she look OK?" she replied bitterly. She sighed and rubbed her temples "Sorry. I always get a little sarcastic after I see a little girl die."

"It's..." Sam faltered at the force of her words and realized he had never seen her before. Not in school or in town. "What's your name?" after a pause he said "I'm Sam."

The girl stood up in one fluid motion, coughed into her elbow and nodded. "Lillian Power." She smirked "M'lady."

* * *

"I _need_ to find him." Astrid pleaded with Sam. Lillian watched idly as yours truly pondered this between every god dammed kid toddling up to him and asking him was it going to be OK. The answer to that, kiddies, is probably not. Sam did well at reassuring them, though. He told them not to panic; their parents would be home soon and much to Lillian's amusement, to have a cookie.

Lillian was sitting beside Quinn who was watching everyone as if they were going to bite him. His eyes darted from one face to another and finally to Sam's with a half panicked glare.

They had checked the houses but there was neither hide nor hair of them. She refused to check her own house. She knew what she would find: emptiness just like the other houses.

Lillian had one brother. He was taking a year off of school to travel and have fun. He was free of dad's weepiness and his annoying tendency to enter the room without knocking and leaving the room with closing the door. Lillian had built a lock in the door to stop that from happening.

Lillian was getting sick of every bloody kid asking Sam stupid questions. She sighed, rolled her shoulders and stalked over to the "couple of the century". "Look," Lillian started to catch their attention. When they turned to her she continued. "Let's just find Little Patrick, OK?"

"It's Pete." Astrid snapped. Man, she did not like Barbie.

"Barbie, look at my face. Can't you see I don't care?" Lillian ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Let's just find the little bugger so all of Sam's kids can stop pissing me off already."

"They're not my kids!"

Sam gave her a fleeting glance before turning to Quinn. "Come on, brah. We're going to find L.P." He held out a hand to Quinn and reluctantly he took it. "Where would he be?"

"Hmmm..." Astrid paused "He might be at the Cliff top and if my dad's minding him he'll be at P.B.N.P."

"P.B.N.P?" Lillian asked.

"It's the power plant." Sam replied.

"Cool."

* * *

Sam gave another fleeting glance and he tried to take in what Lillian really looked life without Astrid noticing. The first thing was the scars on her face. He had asked her where they had come from and she just smirked "Some bastard dog raked my across the face. I think the scars are kinda cool. Y'know, like a warrior." Her curly hair was tied back in a loose ponytail but some wild curls still flopped in her eyes. Her body was oddly shaped, as if with every step her body curved to each step. She reminded Sam of a lioness with her mane of hair and sharp eyes. Lillian wasn't beautiful like Astrid but she did have beautiful eyes and a nice face. She was dressed in a green blouse and dark denim shorts that came to the knee.

Sam shook his head, realizing he had been staring at Lillian for too long. He could almost feel Astrid's gaze burning through his skull. Edilio raised an eyebrow at Sam which he ignored.

"Soooooo..." Lillian drawled "Why's Perdido beach called a fallout alley?"

"It was the meteorite that crashed about fourteen years ago." Astrid began

"Yeah I heard about that."

"Anyway, the meteor crashed into the reactor and carried it underground. If it wasn't going at such a high speed the radiation would have killed everyone." Astrid blessed herself "One man died. He was working in the reactor when it happened."

"Wow, no wonder no one wants to live here." Lillian said bluntly and turned her gaze to the approaching hotel. "Nice place you got here."

Sam smiled and nodded to the beach. "The best waves are at the Cliff top."

"They allow you to surf in the hotel?" Lillian asked with a serious face. It took Sam a few seconds to realize that she was joking.

"Man that was terrible." Sam chuckled and he held open the door for them. As Lillian passed he could hear her muttering "_Such_ the gentleman." And he hid his smile. They walked out the back door and into the tennis court. The court was eerily empty. As they approached the tennis racquet that looked as if it had just fallen on the ground they encountered something.

A wall.

It looked flimsy and if you took a needle to it the wall would pop. It was a blank grey colour and it shimmered slightly. Sam walked towards it before he felt himself being yanked back.

"You twat. You don't just walk towards things like that. That's what the blonde with big tits always does in the movies and she ends up dead." Lillian ranted.

"OK, look." Sam picked up a tennis ball, stepped hesitantly towards the wall and threw the ball at the barrier. He felt Lillian flinch as the ball made contact with the barrier but nothing happened. The ball simply bounced off the wall. Sam walked cautiously over to the wall and hesitantly pressed three fingers to it. The pain was like a burn. It seared through his hand. "Ow! Oh shit that hurts"" Sam yelled as he shook his hand, trying to throw off the pain. Astrid walked over and took his hand in hers.

"It looks fine to me." She flipped his hand over to see if there was any mark but all she could feel was the callused hands of a very dedicated surfer.

"Yeah well it burned." Sam replied, liking the feel of Astrid's cold hands. He could see Lillian staring at him with an eyebrow raised that was saying I told you so. "Shut up." He snapped at Lillian who put on an unconvincing innocent expression and ruined it completely by turning away and smiling.

Quinn stood up sharply. He grabbed a racquet and hit it against the barrier. The wall didn't change but Quinn's expression darkened further. He grabbed one of the metal chair and slammed it against the wall. He was thrown back slightly at the impact and his shoulder jarred slightly but he ignored it as his hit the wall again, and again and again. He could vaguely hear a rant of swear words and death threats as he battered the wall but it didn't register that it was him. He kept hitting the wall with a burning fury until something in his snapped. His eyes filled with tears and he just slumped onto the ground, put his hands on his head and howled.

* * *

Lillian inserted the card into the slit in the door and the light turned green and they entered. They had searched everywhere for Pete but he was nowhere to be found. They had made their way up to the suites and found a room that the key suited. Quinn staggered in and flopped down on one of the queen sized beds "Boys room." He shouted and he fell asleep, face down on the bed fully clothed.

The room consisted of two bedrooms, a plasma T.V. that did not work, a fridge stocked with sweets, a half kitchen and a bathroom. It meant that one of them was going to have to share a bed or one would have to sleep on the couch. Sam looked at Astrid who would definitely not share a bed and then to Lillian. "I'll take the couch." Sam mumbled tiredly and he fell onto the couch. Lillian noticed the look Astrid was giving to Sam and the glare that was especially reserved for her. "Night, Barbie," Lillian called as she strolled into her room, ignoring Astrid's outburst of "I'm not Barbie!" and she fell onto the bed.

Lillian pulled off her clothes, leaving on a loose tank top and female boxers. She grabbed a facecloth and wiped off the make-up. When her face was clean she lept under the duvet and snuggled into the covers happily. In one day she had tried to save a girl, and failed and before she fell asleep a ridiculous thought entered her mind: Y'know, this is the first time I've ever slept fifty meters away from an impenetrable barrier. Ah, Summer memories.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**A/N **I own nothing (apart from Lillian Power) therefore I am homeless. :) R+R

Lillian awoke to the sound of waves rolling gently onto the sand. The sound of the weak surf made her regret leaving Ireland. Irish waves were fierce, they attacked you from behind, crashing into your back like freezing walls of water and sea-foam causing you to fall like a clumsy moron and flail wildly around in the sea. Lillian felt strangely empty while recalling her memories of wading around in the sea with her friends as they tried to push each other over and giving awkward piggyback rides as the waves tried to tackle them to the sand.

Lillian swung her legs off of them bed and she padded into the bathroom. She took a long, leisurely shower, relishing the hot water cascading down her body, unknotting her muscles and waking her up. She washed her hair and got dressed in the clothes she wore yesterday apart from a white blouse she had packed into her "Alien Invasion Emergency Bag". Lillian tied her wet, curling hair back into a braid and she applied some mascara to her eyes and lip-gloss, wondering idly why the hell she packed make-up in the event of an invasion in the first place. Lillian adjusted her ponytail, hoisted her bag up on her shoulders and she left the room.

Lillian smiled at Sam and Astrid talking together on the balcony, conversing about the size of the dome and theories on how it happened. She leant against the doorframe and she resisted the urge to say something sarcastic like: "You look so cute together!" Lillian tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and she strode over, making her presence known. "Do you guys hear that?"

It sounded like a JCB digging. Lillian looked at Astrid who furrowed her eyebrows "It sounds like a backhoe." Astrid stated in that painfully annoying statement tone of hers. Lillian bit back a remark and shrugged.

"I'll go wake Quinton. Then we'll check out whatever the hell that is."

* * *

Indeed it was a backhoe. Lillian raised her eyebrows as she watched the Mexican-looking boy from the fire trying to, from what it looked like; dig his way out, going under the wall. Sam shouted his name over the sound of the backhoe and stood beside the backhoe and grabbed Mexican's attention. The boy must have jumped about a mile but he came down smiling. Edilio gestured to the blank, grey wall and then to the backhoe. Sam grabbed a shovel that the boy must have dragged down with him and he started digging. Lillian grabbed a shovel along with Quinn and they started digging vigorously into Californian dirt, hoping to see the end of that infernal wall. Lillian sighed in frustration after a few minutes of digging and she climbed out of the hole with the help of the Mexican boy with Quinn. She smiled her thanks at him and she waited for Sam to surface from his hope that there was an end to the wall. Sam raised his head sharply and realized that no one was digging with him. He threw the shovel down with a groan of defeat and he took Edilio's extended arm.

"It's doesn't end does it?" Lillian asked with dread tinting her usually dry voice.

"It doesn't seem to." Sam replied back, equally as dismayed and he sighed. "Lillian, you know Edilio, right?"

Lillian tilted her head at Edilio. He was a nice looking boy; a person you know was going to be nice just by looking at them. He had and olive tint to his sin, a crew-cut of neat brown hair and soft brown eyes. "Lillian Power." She held out her hand and Edilio shook it.

"Edilio Escobar."

"Are you Mexican?" Lillian asked, unable to stop herself.

"No, Honduran." He replied almost exasperated. Lillian figured he probably got that question all of the time. "You're not American, are you?"

"Nope, Irish, like the Celtic Tiger." Edilio smiled back at Lilly. Oh she _liked_ him.

"So do you work here or something?" Quinn asked shortly, apparently not up for chit-chat.

"No, my mom does."

"You haven't seen my brother, have you?" Astrid broke in, warding off the fight they could all see coming. "My mother sometimes plays tennis here and she brings Little Pete with her so I thought..."

"No, I haven't seen anyone. Not my parents, no one." Edilio kicked with the the toe of his shoe and he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Is there anywhere else he would be?" Sam asked. Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"P.B.N.P. My dad works there and sometimes he brings Petey with him." Astrid seemed to visibly cheer up as Sam nodded and said "Yeah, it's worth a shot."

"Power plant's, like ten miles way." Quinn stated "Do you expect us to walk ten miles?"

"We could take a golf cart." Edilio suggested "It'll be faster.

"Do you want to come with us?" Astrid asked ignoring Sam's look of outrage. "Don't be petulant."

"I wasn't being petulant." He muttered under his breath. Edilio smiled.

"Thanks Astrid, as I said, the golf carts' will be faster. It's better than walking anyway."

"What does your mom do here anyway?" Quinn demanded "Is she like, the manager or something?"

"Housekeeping." Edilio replied shortly.

"Really-?"

"My mother works at the Cliff top doing housekeeping." Edilio stated coolly "My brother's in the army-"

"OK, OK."Lillian broke off an argument that probably would have blown into a fight. "Jesus Christ, Quinn, shut the hell up!" He ground his teeth at Lillian and he walked beside Sam, seething with every step. Lillian looked at Edilio and she threw her eyes up to heaven and he smiled back at her. They reached the garage and Edilio inserted the key and he opened the garage. Lillian grinned like a man loon at the carts and she hooked her thumbs into the loops of her shorts. "Fuck yeah."

* * *

In Lillian's opinion there was nothing better than riding in a golf cart down a road devoid of cars. Lillian had the biggest smile on her face and she insisted on being in the passenger seat. She could see Edilio throwing odd looks at her and raising his eyebrow occasionally at her euphoric mood which stemmed from riding in a golf cart. As amused as he was trying to look at her childlike expression and her terrible singing voice as she tried to sing "Highway to Hell" he couldn't help but laugh.

"_Stop!" _ Astrid shouted and as the golf cart stopped suddenly, she ran to the other side of the road and she knelt beside a seagull. "This isn't right." Astrid said warily.

"Everything isn't right." Quinn shot back. Lillian nodded in approval.

"True dat." There was a collective silence.

"Look at that." Astrid exclaimed pointing to the seagull's foot. Lillian and Quinn joined Sam and Astrid.

"Talons..." Lillian stated slowly trying to think why it wasn't right.

"Seagulls don't have talons. They don't need talons, they're not predators. This isn't normal..."

"Again, is anything normal anymore?" Quinn asked with an edge to his voice.

"Fair point." Lillian agreed and she poked the bird with her shoe. "C'mon, let's just go."

* * *

Lillian nudged Edilio as they neared the centre of town and a group of boys were loitering near the plaza. "Sam heads up!" Lillian called back to him. As they passed the group Lillian waved sarcastically. Their heads shot up but no one challenged them. That was until a wiry boy ran down the road yelling "Hey, stop!" Sam muttered "Keep driving." Under his breath to Edilio and he smiled at the boy. "Hey Chaz, just going to find Astrid's brother."

"Stop man!" the boy apparently known as Chaz yelled again.

"Can't man, sorry!" Sam shrugged

Chaz, now accompanied by his friends was running after the cart with a stick. One kid with a mallet tried to knock the head off of Quinn who swore and batted the mallet away with his forearm. Lillian kicked one boy who had caught up with the cart and she knocked him over flat on face. She cheered and high-fived a surprised Astrid as the boys fell back into the distance.

"Hey, were they wearing a uniform?" Lillian asked, remembering what was strange about the group of kids.

"Yeah, they're from up the hill." Sam explained to a bemused Lillian.

"Coates Academy: Dumping grounds for children who either need help or are just put there by their parents." Astrid spat venomously looking back at the direction where Chaz and his "homies" were previously. Lillian smiled and she stretched her arms.

"Well that was close." She turned to Sam. "Do all of ye talk like surfers?" when she didn't get a response from Sam she held her hands up in defence. "Y'know, the "brah's" and the man's..."

"We're living in California, what the hell do you expect?" Quinn snapped, ignoring Lillian's response of: "Better grammar, Quinton."

"Sam!" Edilio called, pointing to a truck that was barrelling down the road like a drunk lunatic was driving it. The truck drove halfway onto the footpath and knocked over one of the many bicycles that littered the street. "Pull over or keep driving?" Edilio was gripping the wheel so hard that his knuckles were starting to turn white.

"Keep driving?" Sam suggested

"And get knocked over? Are you fucking insane?" Quinn was starting his own method of panic which was swear a lot, insult the nearest person and fiddling with his hair like a teenage girl.

"It's a low speed car chase, maybe we'll be on the news." Edilio laughed nervously.

"Sam we can't keep driving." Astrid pointed out not very helpfully. Sam hung his head and sighed.

"Fine, pull over, s'not like we can keep driving."

"We're in for a pounding." Quinn growled.

* * *

The truck stopped about twenty feet away from the now motionless golf cart. A short black boy accompanied with three others from Coates Academy kicked the door open and he strode over to the cart with the smuggest grin on his face. Lillian decided that she didn't like him; he looked like too much of a smarmy git. He stopped a feet away from them and shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, Sammy."

"What do you want Howard?"

"You should have stopped, Sam I Am. What am I going to do?"

"_Not _run us over and let us go?" Lillian suggested. "I'm just throwing it out there."

"Don't tell me what to do bitch!" Howard snapped obviously amused by her reaction by the person who climbed out of the truck and joined him. He was huge, probably six feet tall and he wasn't exactly skinny. "You and your fucking wetback friend never should have-" However, Howard's next words were cut off by a punch sailing right into his smug face by Lillian Eleanor Power. She had to be held back by Sam and Edilio.

"You _racist _son of a bitch, I'll kill you!" She broke free of them and she charged at Howard only to be slammed to the concrete by the monster of a boy who probably bruised several of her ribs. Lillian gasped for air and she lurched off of the ground swearing in pain. Sam and Quinn were tackled by the Coates Academy boys while Edilio was repeatedly kicked by Orc. Edilio was curled into a ball, using his arms to protect himself from the monstrous bastard that raining kicks down on Edilio like it was his job. Lillian shoved Monster Boy, not really doing anything but getting his attention. She swore and backed up with her hands over her face.

"_Jesus Christ, just STOP!" _Astrid screamed with tears in her eyes. She pushed her way past Sam and stood in front of Monster Boy. "Orc, just stop!" Ah, that was his name.

"Astrid, I can handle this." Sam growled but he was stopped by Howard.

"Hold on Sammy, Astrid, what did you want to say?"

"We don't want to fight! I just have to find my brother!"

"Yeah but you broke the law Sammy."

"What do you want Howard?" Sam was getting impatient.

"The golf cart. Maybe you'll think twice before breaking one of Captain Orc's rules."

"Captain Orc?" Lillian asked sceptically.

"Yeah, me and Orc, captains of the FAYZ."

"The Phase?" Howard looked happy that they had asked.

"Fallout Ally Youth Zone. F-A-Y-Z, FAYZ. Just us kids now." Howard smirked and he inclined his head at the cart.

"Take it." Sam spat and he walked up the highway. Lillian fell back to Edilio who was wincing in pain and holding his stomach.

"You OK?"

"I've been better."

Lillian nodded and she turned her haze to the long stretch of the highway.

"Perfect, we get to walk ten miles in the blazing sun. Does it get any better than this?" she asked rhetorically, ignoring Quinn's snippy retort of "Lilly, just shut the hell up."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER TWO**

**A/ N I don't own jack-shit. Only could I wish to own GONE but then again if I did Astrid would be the first to go.**

Walking down a highway in the blazing sun was not a fun experience especially if you are a redhead that sunburns easily. Lillian could almost see the steam rising from Sam as he seethed and occasionally swore colorfully under his breath. Astrid was walking along side Sam, bumping her hands against his far too often, looking at him hopefully, turning away and sighing deeply. It fucking _deeply_ annoyed Lillian to the almightily highest and she wasn't the only one. She and Quinn shared far too many eye rolls and exasperated looks.

Lillian was thankful for the random thoughts that ricocheted off of the corners of her head, y'know, if heads had corners, to take her mind off of them mind numbing antics of Astrid Ellison and the silence that surrounded them.

_It'd be cooler if Edilio were Mexican; the Honduras sidekick just doesn't have that certain ring that the Mexican Sidekick has._ _Ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner, ner,_ _EDILIO!_

_Not that I'm racist or anything, Honduran people are cool too._

_I'm sure that they would looks as good in a cape and leathers as the Mexicans would._

_Shit, Edilio's giving me an odd look, must've have been staring at him for too long, imagining him in leathers and a cape._

_Lillian, what the fuck is wrong with you._

_You're having a thought conversation with yourself._

_Fuck I'm weird._

_Oh God, I think I'm getting sunburnt._

_... And freckly._

_I hate freckles._

_They're so... Freckly._

_And yes, that would be a new freckle._

_Fuckin' awesome, yeah._

And so on.

Astrid spotted some bikes in a trailer that was nearly over-turned on the side of the road. There were only three bikes and a heated discussion on who would ride on whose handlebars. After many complaints and flat out refuses it was settled that Astrid was on Sam's handlebars, (Surprise, surprise, Lillian shared a look with Quinn) Lillian on Edilio's and Quinn on his own.

The ride was much better on a bike than it was on foot apart from the fear of falling off the bike's handlebars and getting a concussion.

_Oh this is much better. The wind in my hair, the fear of falling off and instant death .Oh joyous life, you are kind. _

_It's better than walking._

_I suppose so._

It _was _nice to enjoy the sensation of the very mild wind in her already fucked up hair and to have a think conversation with herself. Lillian was enjoying the swooping feeling of the of gravity failure when Edilio sped down a hill. Lillian was pretty sure that Edilio was laughing at both her terror of falling off and her snorting laughs.

_Woaaah buddy._

The power plant was bloody huge! Lillian suddenly understood why people were cautious about power plants; they could kill you; they could mutate you. The fucker was huge, if that blew up the whole town and various others would be screwed big time.

"Holy shit..." Lillian tilted her head and she stared at two large tube things in the centre of the plant.

"Qué?" Edilio shouted to a bemused Lillian. She allowed a flash of regret for not studying Spanish and she nodded her head, not that he could see her, pretending to understand.

"Yes?" Edilio shot her a confused loo that Lillian could not see.

They stopped outside of the metal gates wondering how the hell they were getting in. They all looked at each other.

"P.B.N.P. used to have its own army to guard it." Astrid sighed "Now..."

"It'd be lovely to have an army arrest us." Lillian replied

"How are we even going to get in, Sam? Edilio asked "Those gates are fucking high.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Sam suggested.

"Are you suggesting that one of us climes over that?" Lillian asked curious.

"If you have any other suggestions I'd be glad to hear it."

"But that's barbed wire at the top and... Fine, rock, paper, scissors it is."

They all played with Lillian going for scissors on the last round and Sam, paper.

"Paper dude?" Quinn teased Sam as he looked at his flat hand with disappointment. "C'mon dude, you always go with paper for the second round."

Sam sighed and he started climbing up the gate with difficulty. Lillian feared for Sam, what if he fell off? When he reached the barbed wire at the top he braced himself and pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around the wire. Lillian watched him disappear over the top of the gate.

"That was easy." Lillian paused and frowned "Too easy..."

"As I said, they used to have a whole army just to protect the plant, a battalion of soldiers, gone." Astrid sighed and she glanced at the gate. "Do you know what that means?"

"That we're screwed? Lillian replied

"Yeah," Astrid smirked "Screwed."

"He'll be fine, Blondie. That's our Sam I Am; he knows what he's doing." For once Astrid didn't snap that she wasn't called Blondie; she just shrugged and turned her gaze to the gates again.

After another minute of awkward silence the gates opened with Sam there with a stupid smirk on his face.

"Welcome to ma crib."

"No." Lillian shook her head while striding past him.

"No?"

"Fuck no." She confirmed with a smile. "Ghetto does _not _suit you. Maybe try Dublinese or Gangster style."

"What took you so long?" Astrid inquired. Sam shrugged off her piercing eyes.

"I was looking for a new shirt."

"Size extra large _really _suits you, Sam. It shows off every curve. Lillian laughed.

"Shut up Lilly."

They searched through the power plant, wearily avoiding the reactors, whatever they were called. Astrid rounded the corner for the control room and she nearly sobbed in relief. She speed walked over to a small blonde boy who was sitting in the middle of the floor playing a gameboy. Lillian frowned at the strangeness of it all as Astrid hugged Little Pete who didn't even seem to acknowledge her presence. He looked up from his game and touched her hair in an abstract sort of way to silently return to his game. Astrid and Sam shared an odd knowing look.

Lillian awkwardly entered the room, feeling like the odd one out. She knelt beside Astrid and smiled. "So, this is Pete."

Lillian stood up and she joined Edilio over at the giant screen. She noticed that the power plant was in the centre of a large red ring. "Sam, look at this."

Sam hurried over and looked at the screen with an expression of confusion and fear. He took a step backwards and he and his hand through his hair. Astrid joined them with a knowing look.

"Look." She gestured to the ring "It cuts right through the Cliff top."

"So, it's the wall." Edilio said.

"Wall, ring dome. Whatever it is, it's surrounding us."

"Feck." Lillian breathed. Her gaze followed this red ring. "It completely cuts us off."

Sam turned away from the screen. "Are we leaving now?"

"Leaving?"

"Yes Lilly, leaving."

"It would make more sense to stay." Lillian called after his retreating figure.

"How the hell-"

"Do you really think that we could balance an autistic four year old on the handlebars of a bike for ten miles?" Sam stopped and growled in frustration. Lillian turned to Astrid. "No offence."

"She's right Sam." Astrid said. "We'll stay the night and then we can walk back in the morning."

"Walk _all _the way back?" Sam groaned.

"I could hot wire a car. I saw it a movie once, looks easy enough."

"Can you drive?" Edilio asked sarcastically. Lillian sighed.

"No, but-"

"Hungry." Little Pete said suddenly, surprising Lillian into silence.

"I didn't know he could talk."

"He talks when he wants to. I'll get him some candy from the vending machine. I know where it is." Astrid let go if her brothers hand only to clasp it again as she heard his whine. "I'm so sorry but I can't leave him alone when he's pining. Normally he doesn't even notice if I'm gone, but..." she turned to Sam "Could you?"

"Sure thing."

"Chocolate's fine, he-" Astrid stopped herself and she pressed her lips together.

"I'll find something."

* * *

As Lillian lay on her gurney after ten minutes of gurney surfing she let her mind wander. She could hear Edilio's steady breathing as if he was right beside her. Lillian clenched her fists and she attempted to tune out the loud sounds of beating hearts and breathing. It had started yesterday, the day she idly realized her senses had grown stronger. She hadn't really taken notice of it until now. Now that she had time to think properly she stupidly realized that this was defiantly not normal. She wondered if she was going to start mutating into some weird octopus with ten heads and three arses.

Lillian missed her father, as annoying as he could be they were still genetically related. She wondered what he would say if he knew what was happening to her.

_Probably some weird girly thing, Lillian, for Christ's sake I'm working._

Maybe not...

Lillian had no recollection of this being mentioned in her sex education class. She had no recollection of Mr. Hewitt telling them that a slight mutation was A-OK as far as puberty was concerned. It was weird enough to have a male teacher for S.P.H.E. let alone imagining him telling the class that mutations were perfectly normal.

Lillian gritted her teeth and she squeezed her eyes shut. Fucking shut up! All the noise was building into a crescendo that was blaring in her ears. She could hear breathing, heartbeats and Quinn's bloody snoring.

Lillian was just about to get out of her "bed" until she heard someone getting up, Sam. He moved across the room with a scared edginess and he stood beside a workers table. Sam picked up something that was not in Lillian's line of vision, put it back down and sat on the chair. After a few seconds of silent swivelling in the chair he picked up a rectangular object that looked like an I Phone with ear-phones and listened to music. Lillian was on the verge of joining him when she heard a panicked scurrying and Sam fell heavily out of his chair, causing his chair to smash off of another desk and create a ruckus. Lillian laughed silently into her gurney until she saw Little Pete shoot up from his slumber and start screaming and clutching the side of his head. Sam clutched at his throat, gasping for air while Astrid wrapped her arms around her howling brother and whispered "Window seat, Petey, window seat." Lillian vaulted out of her gurney, yelling "Sam!" She shook his shuddering form while his lungs refused to draw air. His hand extended suddenly and a flash of bright light soared from his palm. Lillian refused to process that and she was just about to lay him in the recovery position when his hand slipped off of her and he crumpled and thudded to the cold floor below.

Edilio, realizing what was happening to Sam came sprinting over. Lillian lay him on the ground, blocked his nose and she performed mouth-to-mouth on him.

_1...2...3... BREATH...1...2...3...BREATH..._

Sam chocked and he drew in large amounts of air. All Lillian could hear was the thunderous sound of her heart beating in her ears. She thanked God and ran her hand through her hair as Sam shakily sat up and rubbed his eyes with the look of a vulnerable child.

"We... We have to get out of here." Sam whispered.

"I thought we agreed on staying the night and you just passed out, Sam, you-" Lillian babbled

"I don't care, I don't like it here and we are leaving."

Lillian stared at Sam's back as he shakily strode out of the room, staggering slightly. She gave Astrid a "what the fuck" look and she joined Sam as he left the room. Lillian didn't look back but she could hear Quinn hissing to Astrid "You saw that right, that flash of light?"

What the hell was that Sam?


End file.
